A Matter of Time
by MaybeMore
Summary: When Arashi is put in charge of a girl from the future, will love blossom? Or is it all just a matter of time before reality comes crashing down around him. YondySaku
1. Chapter 1: 3 to 1

Chapter One: 3 to 1

Uzumaki Arashi stood patiently as the Sandaime quietly organized the papers on his rather messy desk. He mumbled as he worked.

Arashi had been waiting patiently for well over two hours in the hall for his turn with the Sandaime. He was still grumpy about the manner of his awakening by the messenger bird. The blond had been standing for the last twenty minutes, staying silent until spoken to. Arashi found he was utterly bored. He cleared his throat to alert the Sandaime to his presence.

The man, fully aware of the other, glanced up.

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?" inquired the tired man.

"Yes, yes," the Sandaime said to himself. "Yes," he said, addressing Uzumaki, "As you know, being a jonin, it is a responsibility you have to take on three Academy graduates, deeming them genin or not, if they pass _your _test," he put some extra emphasis on your, "test."

Arashi, completely familiar with the system and its inner workings, nodded and gave a brief, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Well," the Sandaime continued, "it has come to my attention that a couple of genin and one chunin have had the misfortune of their sensei being called on for a … rather important mission." The man faltered.

Arashi, taking notice immediately of the man's discomfort quickly responded, "You mean the more permanent kind."

"Yes," he glanced downwards, "a more permanent kind. To get back on track, I want you to take over for him, and create a four man cell. Do you accept this task?"

Arashi didn't really need to think about it. It wasn't the kind of mission you could say no to. "Hai, Hokage-sama, I would be honoured," Arashi bowed deeply. "If I may ask… where are they currently situated?"

"They're waiting at training ground number…"

"Three?" Arashi questioned good humouredly.

"Three."

"Hai," Arashi responded with a bow and proceeded to poof to where he was needed.

The Sandaime stared at where the jonin had previously been standing, "Yes," he whispered to himself, "he'll be a good one." He subconsciously began to chew his lips before returning his attention to war treaty.

○○○

"What do you think he'll look like?" one of the boys drawled.

"What do you mean 'he?' baka, it could be a woman!" hissed the lone female of the three.

The third member sighed. They were at it again. Every single day, it was inevitable. He wondered if they called each other to yell some more, it wouldn't surprise him. As it were, he was the only one to notice that a man had very casually walked up and was now staring with distaste at the fighting genin.

"Do they always fight like this?" he asked the masked genin. Chunin, he corrected, there was one chunin, and he was damn sure that it wasn't one of the other two. Arashi took in the supposed chunin's features, his gray hair, his impassive face, come to think of it, he reminded him of the White Fang… this must be his son then.

At the same time, the boy regarded this… man. He must be their new sensei. He looked familiar. He thought for a second. He looked like one of the jonin people thought were candidates to become the next Hokage. Using his knowledge on the matter, the boy quickly determined that he was then Uzumaki Arashi, being one of the two nins with blond hair in the running for Hokage, the other being female. Was he their new sensei?

"Hai, Uzumaki-sensei, they do fight all the time. You get used to it."

Arashi, not the least bit fazed, responded, "I bet they do...," he glanced at the masked boy, "Hatake Kakashi."

The two genin had by now stopped fighting and had realized that their team mate was talking to could very well be the new sensei the Hokage had told them about.

"Hey! You're late!" yelled the girl. Suddenly realizing she was making an extremely bad first impression quickly sucked up to the man with "Gomen! I'm Rin, and this is Uchiha Obito, who is-"

"-Right about our new sensei being a guy!" finished Obito, grinning widely.

Rin gave Obito a dark look, daring him to continue. He took the hint.

"Hi, I'm Arashi-sensei to you guys. I understand that I'm to give you a test to see whether or not you can become genin." Arashi said.

Rin looked confused. "But aren't we already genin, and Kakashi-kun is chunin… I mean," Rin stopped.

"I know, I know, but I've been appointed as your new sensei, therefore I get to decide if you're worthy to be a genin. If I don't think you are, you go back to the Academy for another year, just like the first time around with your old sensei. Kakashi, well he'll get demoted to genin if he doesn't pass." Arashi smiled. "So, I need you to skip breakfast tomorrow, otherwise you'll just throw up. What with the test I'm giving you. Meet back here at seven am." He turned, and began to walk away. He took one last glance back, saying, "We'll get to know each other better after you pass."

Poof. He was gone.

Arashi could hardly contain his laughter when he saw their faces from his tree, hidden from view. His stomach growled. It was Ichiraku time again.

○○○

They had passed, barely. Rin feeding Obito at Kakashi's command was all he needed. He honestly didn't expect them to get the bells. He personally thought team work was an important part of the shinobi lifestyle, and tested on that principle.

Three students to one teacher.

* * *

yay! first chappie is up!

Oh, I plan to make this a Yondy/Sakura. Not sure how, but it'll happen...

MM


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

I would like to dedicate this chappie to Artemis411, lamarin yang, FakeCompassion and Anglelusfaith, my first reviewers ever... you guys rock!

* * *

Chapter Two: Arrival

He was tired, really tired. The last mission had been brutal; not that the kids, as he affectionately called the three, had known. Sure, it had been C rank, the highest they've ever gotten, but to have _his _mission piled on top of it… it was too much. But they were both successful. The kids had escorted their wealthy client with only minor problems arising. Arashi had done his mission without the others even noticing he had disappeared into the night. He had isolated, interrogated and eliminated his target... successfully.

Even as Arashi lay in bed, he knew that he would get no sleep. The Hokage had been particularly inquisitive at the debriefing, almost like he was trying to break him. But why would he want to do that?

Did the Sandaime really care that much about the angle Arashi held the kunai as it slit the throat of his target? And if you wanted to know that, why not if his eyes burned with malice or if they shined with fear when he died?

These questions played themselves over and over in Arashi's head. He picked at some crusted blood, his blood, underneath his thumbnail. He couldn't quite help himself as he rubbed the flake of dried blood into a powder. How it just sat there, _it _didn't scream, it didn't whisper threats into his ear, it just was. It was somewhat calming.

Just then, a gust of wind blew the powder from his hands. He watched fascinated as it danced through the air. Rising, swirling and falling until it rested at the feet of the jonin crouching on his wooden windowsill.

_Crap._

"Arashi-san, you are wanted by Hokage-sama," the jonin, who's name had currently slipped the sleep deprived Arashi, stated. He held out a scroll for Arashi to take, "You didn't do anything, he wants to have your opinion on, well, you'll see."

The jonin gave instructions on where to meet the Hokage and left him to read the scroll.

The words written seemed like they were written by a desperate man, the letters almost looked like they were going to burst. Arashi focused and actually began to read.

'Arashi,

I have assumed you now know where to meet. I've come across a situation I feel you'll be better suited for than anyone else. Get here as soon as possible for details on your next mission.'

The scroll had been signed with some flourish.

Arashi sighed. Now he knew for a fact that there would be no sleeping tonight.

○○○

"Arashi, how nice of you to come," the Hokage said, practically oozing relief. "It's refreshing how promptly you showed up. Hope I didn't wake you from your beauty rest," he winked.

"No sir, you didn't wake me," Arashi said. He wished he had though. That would have at least meant that he was, at one point, sleeping.

Jarred from his thoughts, Arashi realized that the Sandaime, who looked tired himself, was motioning for him to follow his lead. Arashi quickly caught up to the Hokage. He fell in step beside him and listened to the Hokage.

"Now Arashi, before you start to complain about not getting any sleep, may I remind you that it has been over eight hours since the debriefing," he stated.

He had him there… it had been over eight hours, the regulation amount before a jonin could be sent out on another mission. Arashi hated that rule. It should be at least twelve hours.

Arashi agreed that it had, indeed, been over eight hours.

The Sandaime smiled and kept walking through the ANBU Headquarters, to what Arashi now recognized as the holding cell.

The holding cell, Arashi had only been there once, only once. Based on a misunderstanding of course, but still, Arashi had thought of the experience as a first time last time sort of thing.

Now, Arashi wasn't the kind of man to jump to conclusions, well maybe just a little, but he knew that he was going to have to kill tonight.

When someone's usefulness ran out, and needed to be… quietly dismissed, they were brought to the holding room. The 'dismissal' was usually done in secret, before word got out and help could come. Holding cell equals death for whoever being held inside. It was practically common knowledge.

Arashi hated being the one who, ultimately, killed the man in the cell, the one who had no chance of defending himself, who couldn't divulge a secret for the sake of his life, a man willing to die for his village, a man like him.

The Sandaime, drawing his own conclusions, quickly denied Arashi's fear to take full flight. "It's not what you think; there'll be no killing tonight." He smiled reassuringly at Arashi.

Arashi felt better, death had stayed far too long in his company for the past couple days.

"Could you give me some details, Hokage-sama," asked Arashi. He was feeling a little more relaxed now that he knew that there was no chance of him having to play death dealer for the next few hours, and felt more willing to ask for information concerning his mission. "It's just that, it's nice to have some info before starting."

"Of course, of course," the man seemed almost excited, "well, this afternoon, we had a brief, albeit very strong, chakra pulse-"

Arashi remembered. He began to feel guilty in assuming it was just the rather large man who had sat beside him at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

"-now, I sent a few chunin and jonin to go check it out, make sure nothing had been compromised and just investigate the source."

Arashi found himself nodding in agreement, he would've done the same thing in his position, he thought.

"Well, what they found, it was, well it was quite the find."

"What was it?" Arashi asked, burning with interest in an effort to stave off the guilty feeling.

"It was a 'who', and we brought her in for questioning, she seemed disoriented." The older man replied.

"She?" Arashi said, "Is she a women or a child?"

"Well, she looks to be in her mid-teens. She's scary strong, almost as strong as Tsunade-san, if not stronger."

Both men shivered at the prospect of another female with the same strength as Tsunade. The Sandaime smiled at their collective reaction.

The Hokage continued, "She didn't seem too happy being taken in though…" the smile he had on his face had fell.

"Aren't they all?" sighed Arashi.

"Here we are," the leader of the village chirped, stopping at a door Arashi knew to be five centimeters thick. "Want to meet her?"

"Wasn't that the-" Arashi began.

"It always is," the Sandaime stopped him. He turned and opened the door and walked inside.

Arashi saw a flash of pink before he heard a distinctively female voice calling out to him.

"Coming in?"

* * *

right. disclaimer... I don't own Naruto

woohoo! new chapter up! hope you like it. I had fun writing it at one in the morning...

MM


	3. Chapter 3: Penny For Your Thoughts

Chapter Three: Penny for Your Thoughts

Arashi walked inside the room, while a guard shut the door behind him. Arashi tool the moment to scan the room for its occupants.

There was the Sandaime, looking like he could use a nice long vacation, three guards that had all been trained in prisoner retention and interrogation and then, there was the girl.

She had soft pink hair that came just above her shoulders; her emerald eyes were watching him watch her, Arashi found this slightly uncomfortable but kept looking. She was a thin person, but fit. He quickly looked at her arms, and the power that they possessed. Almost, if not stronger than Tsunade… She wore a red zip-up shirt with white accents. She had skin tight black shorts underneath what appeared to be a skirt of some sorts. Perhaps a medicnin's tool-belt. No, she couldn't be a medicnin, she looked too young to be one, or at least, not a very good one.

When his gaze returned to his face, he could see her looking him over too. Her eyes came to a rest on his face. They stared.

Arashi broke the moment and sat down across from her. The table was situated in the middle of the room. He noticed she was chained down.

She smiled at him.

Arashi resisted the urge to smile back. She had a pretty smile…

He began with his name, it's hard to hold a pleasant conversation when you don't know a person's name, "Hello, my name is Uzumaki Arashi; you may call me, Arashi-san."

He noticed that the girl's eyes had widened before she glanced down when he said his name. Was she afraid of him? He knew he that had a 'flee on site' designation…but did she know?

"What's your name?" he probed.

The girl looked up, she seemed to hesitate before replying, in a clear voice, "My name is Haruno Sakura, my friend's call me Sakura-chan, you may call me Haruno-san."

_Haruno_. Konohagakure had a clan of that same name. She couldn't possibly be from the Haruno clan though, they had few members left, and numbers had been steadily declining over the years. Even more, not a single member for as long as one could remember had ever been a ninja. Ever. He had noticed her hitai-ate on her head that kept her hair back. He looked at her fore head protector turned head band. It was a red ribbon, with a metal plate attached…He wondered what village she came from. He took in the village symbol… no way.

Konoha?

"Alright, Haruno-san, your fore head protector tells me that you come from around here. I don't know how this is possible, seeing how there's never been a Haruno ninja before. Care to explain?" Arashi knew the girl would have to lie.

She surprised him. The girl looked straight into his eyes, "I come from Konohagakure, and I am the first Haruno ninja in my family." There was no lie in her voice, and her eyes… they betrayed nothing.

She couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Simply inconceivable.

"You're how old, Haruno-san?" Arashi wanted to know.

"I am sixteen years old." She replied.

"And the current kage is?" he asked. A simple question. She could answer in a number of ways.

"The current Hokage is named Tsunade. She is the fifth person to claim this title. She took the place of the Sandaime. The Yondaime died sixteen years previously." She looked at him. "But that's not the answer you want. You want me to say the Sandaime. You want me to say that the third Hokage is that man over there." She pointed at Hokage-sama.

So she knew who the Hokage was. But what was she talking about before? Tsunade was not Hokage...

"Haruno-san, I'm finding this hard to believe… as far as I know, there has only been three hokages since Konoha was created. Are you trying to tell me that there have been five?" Arashi was tired, he wanted to go home. But this… girl, she had some pull over him, he needed more.

"I'm pretty sure, Arashi-san. I should know I am, after all, the Hokage's apprentice." She said it almost resignedly.

"What year do you think it is? 'Cause I'm thinking it's not 1254, by the nin's reckoning for you." Arashi scowled.

"Twelve-fifty-four… is that the year?" She looked confused. "This is messed, I'm sorry, it's 1274, not whatever year you just said. I know this is all just some weird messed up genjutsu Kurenai-san has put me in. So if you don't mind…"

Her face scrunched up as she concentrated.

"What is she doing?" whispered a guard to Arashi.

"I think she's trying to break the imaginary genjutsu over herself…" Arashi whispered back.

She opened her eyes.

"Oh no…" Arashi heard her say, in a barely audible voice. She looked panicked.

"Welcome back to the year 1254," Arashi said.

"This can't be happening." She stated in a firm voice. "It's all in my head; I just never woke up last night. It's all just a dream. This isn't real." She continued to mumble to herself.

Arashi listened with interest before saying, "Look, I don't know why you're here, ok, but you're not in a genjutsu or any other form of illusion. So, what I need you to do, first of all is to stop talking so we can figure this out."

The girl looked up, eyes narrowed. Defiance shone in those eyes. "I was born in the year 1258, I am a medic apprentice to the fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, I am a chunin, I live alone." She stopped for a breath. "I work with three team mates, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, of the group Root, and Hatake Kakashi-sensei." A look of realization shone in her face. "It has been three years since the Sandaime's death, due to his former student, Orochimaru."

_Naruto_? Who was he? Arashi turned to face his Hokage, the man had paled considerably.

"That is quite enough. Arashi, meet me in the hallway, now." The Hokage stared at the girl as he made for the door.

○○○

Arashi was shocked. It had been years since he was last told to use it. Even then, it wasn't even on a human… He had performed it only once, for the Hokage, to show he was capable.

However, the look in the Hokage's desperate eyes would not be denied. He did not have to plead.

For once in his life, Arashi despised the power the Hokage held over everyone.

○○○

The girl eyed the jar with distrust. "You're going to what?" She asked for the umpteenth time.

Arashi faced her, "I," he said slowly, "am going to remove all memories that you have. They will be placed in the jar you see before you. The Hokage will search them for the truth that you have refused to reveal to us. If you are, in fact, from the future, we will return your memories to you and help you back. If that's impossible to return you to your own time, we will make a new place for you within our society." He turned from her, "If you are lying though… you'll never know."

The girl looked worried. "You're going to take my memories? How will I function? Will I remember how to go to the bathroom, how to take care of myself…speak? Understand others?"

"Look, if you're lying and you want to remember having a life, tell me now. This is your last chance." Arashi stood arms at his side. "Well, do you have something to say?"

The girl took one last look at the jar before returning Arashi's gaze, "My only fear is that you are incapable of giving back my memories."

○○○

Arashi found didn't sleep after he got home. The screaming had got to him. The fear in her eyes as the swirling blue mass surrounded her stayed with him.

All he could think about was how it must feel. A yawning abyss of nothing, merely a void… blank. What was it like? Having nothing. Know nothing about you, unable to remember, to recall life.

Arashi's thoughts turned to the Hokage. He had taken the jar with him, to investigate her memories. To search her mind of all she knew. Arashi wondered what the man would find. Had she told the truth? If she was, would the Hokage dare give back her memories? Could he give them back? What would he do with the information… the Hokage could use her memories as a weapon, use her knowledge to win battles that they were to lose, gain an advantage, take the upper hand.

And if she hadn't told the truth, what then, what we become of this mysterious girl?

She would be slaughtered. She would be killed for taking up time that was too precious to be wasted on liars. The only question would be how...

This was how Konohagakure worked. Arashi knew, he was on the council that decided prisoner's fates on a regular basis. He wasn't particularly proud of his role in the death of the defenseless, but it was required of him to be there, to _confirm._

The girl's frightened face floated back up into his vision. Her wide green eyes, the mouth barely ajar in a small 'oh' before the brunt of the jutsu came crashing down. He had watched, while he chanted, how her hands had clenched, how she refused to show pain until it was too much. He remembered how she had curled into herself in an effort to stop the jutsu, to prevent him from knowing the truth.

Arashi turned over in his bed, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. He decided to speak with the Hokage in the morning. The thought eased his mind and Arashi soon fell asleep.

* * *

Hello! Sorry for taking forever... had a bit of a brainfart. I just noticed that uploading documents gets rid of indents... 'Nyhoo, I'm not sure if I like the title of this particular chapter. Yeah for reviewers! They've all been positive so far, which is nice.. thank-you so much! woohoo... disclaimer! (should prob'ly go at the begining...meh) Naruto Not Mine. 

eeek! I read Harry Potter. It was awesome. Stayed up all night... that was tiring, but definately worth it! Doesn't your heart just go out to Snape?


	4. Chapter 4: Memory Withheld

Chapter Four: Memory Withheld

Arashi sighed. They were getting somewhere, but not particularly fast. He handed the man opposite him another bottle, which contained yet another memory.

He looked at the one he held in his left hand. It seemed to be of her facing off against some swordsmen, although it seemed she took the back seat in this particular mission. Seeing the scene from her point of view, he watched as she cried over her fallen comrade and the pure outrage of her other team mate. Arashi was intrigued by the sudden increase of chakra the boy seemed to have. The man carefully thought it over, as the memory played the rest of the scene out.

It was unimportant, Arashi decided. He stuck it in with the rest of the 'return' pile. His gaze turned to the 'no-return' pile. It was void of bottles or jars.

The man opposite of him placed a singular jar in the no return section. Arashi raised his eyes to meet the Hokage's in a questioning glance.

The Hokage shook his head, "I don't think it's important, but I'd like my bases covered."

Arashi voiced his still unanswered question, "What is it though?"

"It's just who's the Hokage after me, don't want her to spout it off to someone with suspicious connections or anything. It'd be pretty awful if the next Hokage got knocked off before gaining the title." The Hokage said firmly, "So there's no reason to look, as it'll be revealed in due time anyways." The Sandaime looked to see if his answer was enough for the man.

Arashi was satisfied with it and continued working on his pile of bottles.

The Sandaime congratulated himself on a job well done. The memory was of one Sakura reading from a book all about Arashi. She had full access to the Hokage's library, being an apprentice to her Hokage. It wouldn't do for Arashi to know who he was to become and the manner of his death. Wouldn't do at all…

○○○

Some time after Arashi left, Sarutobi was leaning against the window sill, high above those in the village below. He sometimes wished he could be one of them, scurrying around with no idea of the wars that took place just beyond their borders. He watched as one child tripped, stopping the few people around him. They helped him up, one person taking him in the direction of one of the free clinics. The Hokage smiled at the scene, people helping one another. Who wouldn't want that in their village? It was perfect. Not the tripping of course, but the kindness the villagers had displayed, you could really feel the comradeship between one another.

His mood darkened slightly, what to do about the girl? She would need someone to be with her, make sure she didn't make a run for it or tell anyone who she really is. It sounded exactly like a mission. It'd have to be a jonin, anynin lower than that could be overpowered by her. Female too, it would be uncomfortable for her if she had to live with a male.

Wait, all the female jonins were all on their respective missions… the first one back would be in two months. Sarutobi mentally berated himself for forgetting this fact. The nin would have to be male then. She would get switched to a female room mate with whoever happens to come back first. He'd need a volunteer though; this could very well be turned into a lifelong mission. Perhaps then, not the first female nin then… a volunteer. The mission would have to be given to a volunteer. No other way. The man called for his assistant.

The black haired chunin was quickly at his side, "Yes sir, how may I be of assistance?"

Sarutobi quickly stated that he needed all the available jonin to report to his office in six hours time. The assistant scurried off to delegate other nin of lower status to help him get all the dispatches out.

Sarutobi faced his window; high above the village below… he envied them sometimes. They seemed to crawl about like ants, unaware of just how big an impact his decisions could make. He saw the first messenger bird take flight through the air. He turned, knowing others would soon follow. He glanced at his long overdue paperwork. Having dealt with an angry assistant for unfinished work before, the Hokage thought it would be a nice change to not be yelled at.

He would be waken up exactly twelve minutes and thirty-eight seconds before the meeting by an angry assistant, who later declared the Sandaime 'hopeless' in cases like this. The Sandaime couldn't help but agree.

○○○

Arashi knew this was coming. As he looked around the crammed room, he felt repulsed by the amount of men leering at the picture of the pink haired girl. Didn't they have _any_ dignity?

"Sixteen you say?" Arashi heard one say.

"Stay with you at all times, huh?" another said, with a tinge perverseness.

"Can't go anywhere without permission," a man said with a lecherous grin on his face.

"I don't think that's specific enough, shouldn't we be able to decide what she looks like too? I mean, personal appearance is very, very important, right down to the underpants." Arashi was properly horrified.

Was there anyway he could save the poor unsuspecting girl from these perverted men? Well, this was a volunteer mission, was it not?

"I'd like to volunteer."

Silence.

Did someone actually volunteer? Had they not realized it was very likely this would turn into a lifelong mission? This was a huge commitment. Most importantly, who had volunteered? All eyes swiveled to the back of the room, where the voice had emanated from.

"Arashi," the Hokage said, "are you sure?" The Hokage was extremely pleased that Arashi had volunteered, the way some of the other men were looking at the picture, well, it made him think twice about his so-called perfect village. Arashi was a man you could count on. "Would anyone else like to volunteer?"

No one bothered to put up their hands. What was the point, _Arashi _had volunteered. It was common knowledge that Arashi was the Konohagakure golden boy. He would be chosen, no doubt. A few men sighed at the lost opportunity.

The Hokage regarded the crowd, "No one?" He faced Arashi once more, "I guess you got the mission then. Report back to me tomorrow, I'll have a dispatch sent for the exact time. Oh, and men, this is classified information. I expect no leaks."

Arashi nodded and left with the others who had begun filing out.

○○○

His clear blue eyes gazed steadily at the man in front of him. He watched how his lips moved, rubbing against his yellowed teeth, the way his tongue danced in the man's mouth and his sour breath seemed to affect everyone except himself… so engrossed in his observations, Arashi failed to hear what the man was saying.

"Hey, you going to have that?" the man said, nodding his head at the bottle of sake Arashi held.

Brought out of his reverie, Arashi muttered to himself and handed the alcohol over to the man.

"Thanks man, much appreciated," the somewhat drunken man stated before taking a swig from the bottle.

"Your welcome," Arashi paid for the sake and left the bar. He walked along the street. His mind wandered to the kids. They'd find out sooner or later that he was living with a female. Obito would probably laugh his head off. Rin would want to know the details of the wedding, then be shocked to find out there wouldn't be one. Kakashi… Kakashi would realize the mission for what it was, and wisely say nothing, even though he would want to know what danger the girl possessed. Arashi almost laughed at how predictable his students were. He turned down an alley and soon found himself on the familiar road that went by his home.

The steps to his small house were slick from the light rainfall two hours earlier. Arashi turned the rusty doorknob and entered his apartment. As he walked in, he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, twenty minutes past midnight. He walked down the hallway to his bedroom. He undressed and prepared for bed. He was brushing his teeth when the dispatch arrived.

It was a messenger pigeon. How old-fashioned Arashi thought as he opened the window for the bird, they usually use hawks for messages now. The bird hopped on his bed before sticking out his leg with the message tied on. Arashi untied the blackened string and removed the scroll. The dusty gray pigeon took off again, flying out the window. Arashi followed its flight until it was too far away to see anymore.

He unrolled the tightly furled paper. He scanned its contents and rolled it up once more. In seven hours time, he would have to be waiting outside the Hokage's office. Arashi set his alarm and went to bed.

○○○

"Enter," the voice intoned.

Arashi pushed the two wooden doors and enter went into the Sandaime's office. His eyes immediately went to the shock of pink sitting to one side of the room. He quickly brought his eyes back to straight ahead of him, at the Hokage himself.

"Arashi, I do believe you're early today. Normally you're barely on time." Sarutobi smiled.

"I set my alarm clock an hour too early. I would've preferred to sleep that extra hour," Arashi stifled a yawn.

"Right, well, we all know why we're here, let's make some introductions." The Sandaime gestured at the two. "Arashi, this is Haruno Sakura"-

"But you already knew that, didn't you?" the girl said accusingly, "Rummaging through my memories."

Arashi was stunned. He hadn't given back any memories, how had she known who she was? And wait just a second; it wasn't like he had wanted to rummage through her memories. He had no choice in the matter; it was an order from the Hokage. That's not an order you can just blow off whenever you want to.

"Arashi, relax. I gave back a few memories, just a few basics." The Hokage said quickly. "Anyways, Sakura, this is Uzumaki Arashi, he'll be your, for lack of better terms, room mate. He will be giving back your memories on a regular basis."

Arashi looked at her, she seemed pleased.

"Now," Sarutobi continued, "we all know that we can't have you" - he motioned toward Sakura – "roaming the streets with your real name. The Haruno clan would get suspicious, they know their members."

The girl nodded. Arashi almost felt bad for her; having to live her life in the past, without anyone she knew. And if she did know them, she would probably be older than them. He thought about it. One thought bothered him, what would happen when she was born, would the world explode? Could two Haruno Sakuras exist at the same time?

"Do you like it?" the Hokage asked.

"It's not the same as my real name, but I can live with it. I'm sure I'll get used to it, kind of rolls of the tongue, doesn't it? Nakamura Sakura," the girl softly repeated the name to herself.

"Is that her new name then, Nakamura instead of Haruno?" Arashi asked realizing he needed to get back into the conversation.

The Sandaime turned to face him, "Yes, no one else has that name in the village and it will not draw suspicion. We decided to not change her given name, as it will be hard enough to adjust without having to learn an entirely new name."

Arashi saw the girl nod her head in agreement. He wanted to ask her a few questions. When was her birthday? How'd she get here? Did she miss her old life?

"Sakura…" Arashi began.

○○○

Arashi was sleeping in his office that night, except he couldn't sleep. He hadn't had anyone sleep in the same house as him since he left the orphanage. All he could think about was the fact that there was another person asleep in his bed.

He pushed a pile of paper out of the way. He'd clean it out in the morning so she could move in… properly. He would throw out what he didn't need and incorporate the rest into his own bedroom. He sighed. This was to protect her from the perverts that were his fellow shinobi.

Arashi was just about to fall asleep when he heard something that brought down his already low spirits. The girl was snoring.

○○○

Sarutobi slept soundly. He knew now that he shouldn't use the information he had gained from the Nakamura Sakura's memories. Some of the memories had troubled him, but he understood that they had already come to pass, there could be no changing the future if it was already the past. He had then decided to take comfort in the fact that he only had to wait another sixteen years before returning to the arms of his beloved wife. He would count the days.

* * *

Hooray for reviewers. You guys rock.  
I spent the last week reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I thought it was good.  
Right. Disclaimer. Naruto Not Mine  
You'll all be happy to know that I have an outline for the fifth chapter. So maybe it won't take so long for the next update. Who am I kidding? It'll be no more than a week. I promise. 


	5. Chapter 5: Process

Chapter Five: Process

Arashi woke up early the next day. As he pulled on a shirt, he thought about what to do for the day. But first, he wanted to make a nice breakfast for the girl. Honestly, Kami knows what she had to eat while in the holding cell. Arashi vaguely wondered what she would want to eat. Did she like bacon? How about ramen? Was ramen considered a breakfast? What if she was a vegetarian? He didn't have anything remotely vegetarian. He would have to wing it. He considered his cooking skills; they were good enough for him, but what about her? Should he really care this much if his food was edible by a girl's standards? He settled on getting to the kitchen before worrying anymore on the breakfast dilemma.

He walked by his bedroom door, slightly ajar. The view the crack gave him was enough to confirm that the girl was still fast asleep. He paused as he watched her breathe, her chest rising and falling. He noticed how her pale skin looked green due to his digital alarm clock. His stomach grumbled.

He made his way into the small kitchen. Arashi murmured in an annoyed tone when he looked into his empty fridge. He had forgotten to go shopping the previous week. He took out the few things he did have, which consisted of five eggs, a single tomato, some leftover chicken and a sad wilted piece of lettuce. Arashi considered what he had. He threw out the lettuce. He chose to make scrambled eggs. He needed to cut the tomato and the chicken up before adding it to the eggs.

The concoction was complete. Upon further investigation into his limited cupboards, he had managed to find some spices to add to the eggs. Setting the table, Arashi thought the meal was semi-respectable. Although somewhat lacking. Arashi frowned. Sure, he had scrambled eggs but then maybe he should make something to go with it.

Toast. That was it, he needed to make some toast, and then the meal would be complete. Arashi busied himself with the making of the toast, thinking on how to perfect his 'fine' cooking.

So busy with the now burning toast, Arashi was unaware that the girl had been watching him make breakfast for the past five minutes. She smiled at his antics, clearly touched that he had made the effort to make breakfast.

Arashi turned suddenly, burnt toast in hand. He saw the girl immediately. "Oh, umm, hi, I, uh, made breakfast." He was flustered at how quickly the kitchen had turned against his sincere efforts to make a nice breakfast. And now the girl was there witnessing its uprising.

The girl looked at the burnt toast in his hands and looked at the set table. Her face brightened and she said, "Eggs huh? I love eggs, got to be the best part of breakfast. Don't worry about the toast." She nodded towards the blackened bread. She sat herself down.

Arashi stared at the girl as she grabbed the serving spoon from the pan and started to move copious amounts of the egg to her plate. She seemed content enough to be eating eggs for breakfast… I guess that rules out vegetarian, thought Arashi. Wait, were vegetarians allowed to eat eggs? Arashi shook his head of his many questions and sat down to eat breakfast.

Sadly his next thought was too persuasive to ignore, it bugged him, nagging at him. How did she know she like eggs? He remembered asking the Hokage at an earlier date the exact memories he had managed to return to her. Eggs weren't one of them. "How'd you know you liked eggs…? I thought you didn't have any of your memories. Or, very few."

Her gaze was icy. Maybe he shouldn't have reminded her of-

"I don't think me liking eggs could exactly qualify as a memory. Liking eggs is just part of me. Just like I know my favourite colour is orange. I'm sure there is a memory behind why I like the things I like, but for now, based on my current situation, I'm happy just knowing what I like." She cocked her eyebrows before taking a huge mouthful of egg.

Arashi found it hard to disagree.

○○○

"Promise?" the girl asked, a look of doubt gracing her features.

"I promise," Arashi said sincerely.

"It's just that, well, you're not exactly the Hokage, and I never even saw what he did. You know I was… unconscious at the time." The girl still looked doubtful.

"Don't worry. I asked exactly what the Hokage did. Don't be so quick to forget that I did create the jutsu in the first place. I'm pretty sure it won't be too painful." Arashi reassured her.

"It was painful last time." The girl had said it quietly enough that Arashi had to lean in to hear her words.

Arashi was unsure as to what he should say. It made sense though; the pain had lasted beyond the extraction of the memories, therefore becoming her 'first' memory. The thought of only having a single memory, and one of pain was making him uneasy. How strong this girl must be. "I'll make the utmost effort to make it as painless as possible." His smile did nothing to comfort her.

"Just get it over with," she muttered darkly. "Wake me up when it's over."

Arashi nodded and the medic-nin injected the sedative into her arm. Arashi watched her eyes slowly glaze over before finally closing. She looked exhausted. The medic-nin quietly exited the room. Arashi took the multitude of jars filled with memories and began.

○○○

The procedure took the better part of the day. Five times longer than removing the memories. It was worth it though, Arashi thought as he stood over her sleeping form. Her tired eyes were closed, giving her a look of pure peace. Arashi opened the window before leaving the stuffy hospital room. He conferred with the medic-nin waiting outside of the door before heading outside.

Once in the open, Arashi noticed the extra nin patrolling the hospital grounds. Was it because of the girl? Did the Hokage believe that she needed the extra protection? If so, shouldn't _he _be the one doing the protecting? He turned back to the hospital and headed towards her room. She'd only be there for a maximum of three days after all, that's what the medic-nin said anyways.

He wondered if she would realize that she was missing one memory. Arashi didn't know what the memory was, but he was sure that it was pivotal for the future of the village. Would it be blaringly obvious? It didn't matter. She would create new memories. With _him_.

The realization caused an unusual stirring within Arashi's chest. The only memories that people had of him were almost all work related. The only ones that weren't were when he was in the orphanage and when he was in school, with his teammates.

"Uzumaki-san, there's a problem with the information you've given me, concerning the girl you brought in this morning. I'm afraid I missed what you said she was named…" the mature medic-nin trailed off.

"Sakura. The girl's name is Nakamura Sakura." Arashi hastily responded.

"Of course, thank-you," she replied, "That was all. I hope she gets out soon." The medic walked off.

"Sakura," repeated Arashi softly.

○○○

He walked her back to his house Friday, three days later. She was rather quiet, compared to what she was four days previously. Maybe this was who she really was, with her memories. Arashi was fine with this assumption; he wasn't much of a talker anyways. If it turns out, however, that she was a chatter-box, Arashi was fine with that too, he should learn to talk more anyways. It was decided, he would try to accommodate her as much as possible.

Arashi's thoughts turned to how she felt now. Would she be depressed at the thought of having to possibly spend the remainder of her life in the past, unable to take back the life she once had? Arashi's spirits downed at the thought of having to live in the past.

He had many questions he wanted to ask her, now that she had her memories. It wasn't the same as merely looking at them. She had experienced her memories. She would know what they would mean, how they were connected. He wanted to know how she had arrived here. He knew about the chakra pulse, but he needed to know how, what had she done to get here. He knew that it wasn't part of her memories; neither he nor the Hokage had remembered a single memory concerning her arrival here. Perhaps though, they had seen it, but had not made the connection. That's why he needed to ask her, herself. She alone understood her memories.

"I know you don't want to hear this right now, but do you remember how you got here?" Arashi began.

The girls head dipped lower, "No."

"Are you sure, if we did, we might be able to send you back." Arashi stated.

"I'm sure I would remember how I got here. All that I remember about that day, was I was having a picnic. I was eating this really good chocolate chip cookie when all the sudden there was this bright light. I'm not sure where the light emanated from, or if it is even possible to recreate it. I'm not sure myself it there was a person who did it or not."

"You mean, you didn't try to experiment with some random hand signs or anything like that?" Arashi questioned.

"No," she was quick to reply. "If anything, it's possible it was one of the Academy students. I seem to remember them having a field trip that day. Maybe one of them thought it would be 'cool' to try to make up one of their own jutsu." Her voice was beginning to quiver, "Isn't that a sad thought? I may be here just because of some random jutsu that misfired." The laugh that followed was coarse; the only emotion portrayed was of bitterness.

"We're"- Arashi began to say having now arrived at his home.

"I remember." She said.

Arashi was silent.

○○○

Later that evening, as Arashi mad his way to the bathroom, he was brushed against as the girl made her way back to her 'official' new room. Arashi didn't miss the tear stained eyes, or the muffled cry that followed.

○○○

Her red rimmed eyes flicked upwards, she had barely registered his quiet 'I'm sorry.'

Arashi was closing the door when he heard her say in her own quiet voice, "It's been done."

The door clicked shut.

○○○

Arashi caught her dancing in her room the next morning. He didn't say a word as she span slowly on her feet. She stopped when she saw him.

"I made breakfast," he said.

The girl smiled.

* * *

Hello people, it's currently midnight... I'm going on vacation! Woohoo! Anyhoo, hope you like this chappie.  
Disclaimer: Naruto Not Mine (sadly...)  
Hurray for reviewers! I _live _for reviews! Hey Shadowsakura321, does the whole 'smiling' thing count as fluff? And just for you lamarin yang, I will try to not have lots of fluff right away, make it gradual... slowly, but surely. Ahem, I would like to formally dedicate this particular chapter to my brother, who didn't laugh at me when I said I was writing a story. Right, that's about it, hope you are all having fantastic summers! Oh, and one last quick question, should I continue to put in indents after uploading? Can you even see them? mmm. G'night. 


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